institution · Baixa · Porto
Porto's bank that doesn't hold money - it holds over 27,000 salvaged azulejo tiles, available for building owners to withdraw free of charge to restore their façades. Open to the public and entirely unlike anything else.
Porto's azulejo tiles - the hand-painted ceramic tiles covering the façades of buildings across the city - gained widespread popularity during a 19th-century building boom. Decades of neglect, building collapses, and systematic theft by collectors put thousands of them at risk. The city's response was unusual: open a bank.
Address: Praça de Carlos Alberto 71, Porto
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